UTC Market Demolition: The human cost of government eglect

A little over two years ago, precisely on the 4th of January, 2024, the management of the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA), rolled its bulldozers towards Area 10, Garki Abuja. Mission: to demolish the popular UTC Market. Reason: to modernize the market. Hours later on that day, the once boisterous market was reduced to a huge pile of rubles.

Before its demolition under the guise of modernization, the UTC Market thrived as a vibrant hub of trade and entrepreneurial ingenuity. This bustling marketplace showcased the unwavering spirit of Nigerian youths, who converged on a daily basis to offer an array of goods and services ranging from sales of all kinds of wares to graphic design, fashion design, printing, culinary service, and other forms of exquisite crafts.

The UTC Market was more than just a commercial hub – it was a symbol of resilience and self-sufficiency, where Nigerian youths showcased their resourcefulness, creativity, determination and hustling spirit. For residents of the FCT, UTC Market was a one-stop shop where one could find anything and everything.

The brutal destruction of this thriving marketplace, which provided a lifeline for thousands of small-scale entrepreneurs and artisans, exposes the government’s empty rhetoric on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the much-acclaimed engine of economic growth.

The government’s justification for the demolition – a vague promise of modernization – is a thin veil for its utter disregard for the human cost of its actions. The affected traders and artisans were left to pick up the pieces, their businesses shattered, their futures uncertain. The government’s inaction in providing alternative livelihoods or support has only exacerbated the suffering, leaving a trail of shattered lives in its wake.

Segun Martins, a young entrepreneur in his late twenties, encapsulates the sentiment of the displaced traders. Having lost his printing business, he vows never to forgive the government for its callous disregard. “Look at us now,” he laments. “They’ve destroyed our livelihoods without any concern for our well-being. I’ve lost everything. I’ll never forgive them.”

For Nnamdi Eze who owned a bourgeoning boutique in the B-line of the demolished market, the demolition of the market was a great set back that he believes will only take the grace of God for him to bounce back from. According to him, on the day the market was demolished, he was in far-away Lagos where he usually buys his stocks. It was his sales girl who called to inform him of the demolition exercise taking place. According to him, he lost quite a lot of his wares, not to talk of his customers, in that action of government.

His story and that of Segun’s are similar to most owners of shops in that ill-fated market. Their anguish and lamentation represent the broader feeling of helplessness across the marketers and hustlers in UTC market. As the bulldozers brought down the structures, they did not only bury the destroyed wares and merchandise of the traders, they also interred the sweats and blood of the hardworking Nigerians who survive by their grim determination to survive.

More than two years down the line, the market still remains a huge pile of debris, and the displaced traders are still roaming around the adjoining areas every day, soliciting for business patronage from passers-by. Rebuilding of the market has definitely commenced and but at alarmingly snail-paced speed that infuriates the traders the more. have barely gone beyond foundation stages Very soon now the rains will start again with attendant inconvenience and hardship for the displaced marketers and artisans.

The FCT administration’s actions, or lack thereof, have left an indelible mark on the lives of these hardworking Nigerians. The stark contrast between the government’s swift construction of the Vice President’s residence, costing taxpayers over 21 billion naira or even the instantaneous construction of palatial homes for Judges in the FCT, and its sluggish response to rebuilding the UTC Market, is a damning indictment of its priorities.

A security expert, Hamza Ibrahim, a retired police officer, established a nexus between the destruction of the market more than two years ago and the spike in crimes and criminality in the FCT. According to him, it is no brainer to see the correlation.

“Thousands of able-bodied youths were rendered jobless and hopeless by the unthinking government and more than two years down the line, it has not found it expedient to resettle them where they will put their energies to productive use, so what do you expect?”. He concluded by advising the FCT administration to hasten up its reconstruction effort so that the people will go back to their legitimate businesses.